Sire-hydrant wrei



G. .l. BOEHM.

FIRE HYDRANT WRENCH.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24. 1919.

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FIRE-HYDRANT WRENCH.

Application filed April 24, 1919.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE J. BOEHM, a

citizen of the United States, and residing in the drawing.

at Elizabeth, in the county of Union and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Fire- Hydrant Wrenches, of which the following is a specification, such as will enable those skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and us the same.

This invention relates to fire hydrant wrenches, and the object thereof is to provide an improved device of this class which will operate at all times and under all conditions to turn the hydrant plug no matter how much said plug may be worn, or what its exact form in transverse section may be.

Hydrant plugs of the class under consideration are usually pentagonal in form, or five-sided in cross section, and the corners of these plugs frequently become worn so that an ordinary hydrant wrench will not turn them, and Stillson or similar wrenches must be employed and these are not always at hand, but with my improved wrenchthe hydrant plug may always be turned instantly no matter what its condition may be.

The invention is fully disclosed in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawing forms a part, in which the separate parts of my improvement are designated by suitabl reference characters in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is a plan view of myimproved wrench;

Fig. 2 a partial longitudinal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 3 a partial section on the line 33 of Fig. 2'.

My improved hydrant wrench comprlses a head portion a, and a handle portion 6, and the head portion a, in the construction shown, is oblong in form, the end thereof with which the handl 6 is connected being slightly enlarged laterally as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and the corners of said head portion are also preferably rounded as shown The top and bottom sides of the head portion a are parallel or fiat and in the smaller end of said head portion is formed a hydrant plug aperture (1 which is pentagonal in form, or five-sided in cross section in the construction shown. The larger end of the head portion is cored out to form a cham- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 30, 1919. Serial No. 292,278.

her a which opens outwardly through said end portion, and the central part of the. head portion is cored out to form a supplemental chamber a which is approximately rectangular in form in cross section and of less transverse dimensions than the chamber a and which communicates with said chamber a and the chamber a cuts the hydrant plug aperture a transversely, and at each end of said chamber are sockets a in which are placed spiral springs a.

Placed in the supplemental chamber a is a gripping block d which is oblong and rectangular in form, and one side edge portion of which is provided with a V-shaped recess (Z the sides of which are similar in form and dimensions to the sides of the plug aperture 0, i

The handle 6 of the wrench is provided with a cam head 6 which is pivoted in the chamber a by a. headed at both ends, and said head is oblong in form in horizontal section and the corners 6 thereof are rounded and adapted to bear on the side face (5 of the gripping block (Z, and the chamber a in the head or head portion a of the wrench is enlarged laterally to permit of the operation of the head of the handle 6. r

The operation of this device will be readily understood from the foregoing description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing and the following statement thereof. My improved Wrench is applied to the hydrant plug in the manner of other devices of its class, and in the operation of turning the plug, the handle 6 may be swung in either direction and the head 5 thereof will operate on the gripping block (Z to force it into firm contact with the hydrant plug to which the head of the wrench is applied, and said hydrant plug will be firmly grasped and may be turned by means of my improved wrench no matter in What condition the plug may be.

In the above described operation the gripping block 03 is forced inwardly against the operation of the springs a and when the handle 6 is moved back into the position shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2, the gripping block d will be forced out of contact with the hydrant plug by the springs a, but hydrant plugs of the class under consideration are usually tapered somewhat and the springs c are not absolutely necessary,

pivot pin 6 riveted or and may or may not be employed, but the use of said springs will facilitate the operation of the wrench under most ordinary conditions.

The handle Z) is also provided at its free end with an ordinary spanner device If and inwardly thereof with an ordinary hydrant wrench device 5 and my improved wrench may be used with an ordinary hydrant wrench or spanner device whenever necessary or desirable.

In the accompanying drawing I have shown the head or head portion a of my improved wrench made integral or of onepiece, but said head may be divided horizontally and formed of two pieces, if desired, and other changes in and modifications of the construction herein described may be made, within the scope of the ap pended claims, without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificmg its advantages,

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A hydrant wrench comprising a body provided in one end portion with a transverse aperture adapted to receive a pentagonal hydrant plug, a gripping block movably mounted in said body portion and the inner face of which is V-shaped in form, the V-shaped face of said block and three of the walls of said transverse aperture forming a pentagonal aperture adapted to receive said pentagonal plug, a handle member rovided at one end with a two-faced cam iead pivoted in said body portion and adapted to operatein connection with said gripping-block, and tensrona-l devices mounted to operate in connection with said gripping block at the opposite sides of the V- shaped face thereof to normally move said block toward said cam head.

2. A wrench device of the class described comprising a body portion provided with a transverse pentagonal aperture, said body portion being provided with a longitudinal aperture which communicates with said transverse aperture and opens outwardly through one end of said body portion, a gripping block movably mounted in said longitudinal aperture and the inner face of which is V- shaped in form, the V-shaped face of said block and three of the walls of said transverse aperture forming a pentagonal aperture adapted to receive and grasp a pentagonal body, a handle member provided at one end with a head having two convex cam faces, said head being pivotally mounted within the longitudinal aperture of said body portion and adapted to operate in connection with said gripping block, said body portion being provided with recesses at the opposite sides of said longitudinal aperture and which extend forwardly of said aperture, and tensional devices mounted in said recesses and adapted to operate in connection with said gripping block at the opposite sides of the V-shaped face thereof to normally move the same toward the head of the handle member.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed my name in presence of the subscribing witnesses this 21 day of April, 1919.

I GEORGE J BOEHM. Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. RYAN, JOHN A. CoNLIN. 

